A Hole In The World
by WitchGirl
Summary: A parasite is cooking Starfire's organs. Her agony pulls the team together to search for a way to save her. Terra's wracked with guilt, Robin feels helpless, Raven refuses to give up, Cyborg doesn't believe his eyes, and Beast Boy sees reason in madness.
1. Illyria

A Hole In the World

**Summary:** An ancient demon is awakened and takes residence in Starfire. Raven and Beast Boy try to find its tomb while Robin tries to comfort a suffering Starfire before he loses her forever.

**Author's Note:** Though it has the possibility of turning into a long story, I hope this won't exceed four parts (which is short for me). If this story sounds familiar, it's because it is. I must confess, it is not my own. I was so affected by the _Angel_ episode of the same name that I hade to get it out in writing, basically recreating a similar scenario in Titans style. If you know the show, then I'm sure you know the ending, and by knowing that, make your own decision of whether or not you want to read this because I may or may not stick to the ending and you gotta prepare for that. Those who have no idea what the show is even about, let me just say that it's a little sad. That said, read at your own risk.

Also take note that while much of the witty dialogue belongs to Joss Whedon, much of the descriptions, actions, and the adaptations for the Titanverse can be accreditted to moi. And of course, the Titans aren't mine. So this story is 1/3 mine, and the rest belongs to other people. So what else is new.

This is an experiment. I have three out of four parts written. Depending on readers' reactions, I will figure out if I oughta finish or not... People who read my stuff will note that I've been incommuticado for a while. Well, I found this on my computer today and it brought up memories. We'll see what you guys have to say.

Chapter One: Illyria

The day began as any other. Beast Boy and Raven were arguing again as they walked through the elevator door. Raven was drenched in mud as she swiftly walked first out of the elevator, followed by a frustrated Beast Boy.

"It's almost as if you _try_ to get on my nerves," she was saying as she tracked mud across the living room floor.

"I really don't have to try that hard," said Beast Boy, a little bitterly.

"So you accidentally decided to knock me into the hippo enclosure? What were you trying to do, kill me?"

"No," said Beast Boy, getting a little more annoyed himself. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have thrown you into the lion enclosure instead."

"You guys," said Cyborg, stepping in between them and putting his arms around them. He then frowned and took his arm away from Raven's shoulder due to the mud that came off on his hands. He smiled at her and laughed awkwardly as she glared at him. "Uh... why don't you give it a break for a while, yeah? Raven— take a shower. BB— I challenge you to a game of Super Sharp Ninja Nine. You game?"

"Am I ever!" cried Beast Boy as he darted to the couch with Cyborg.

Robin and Starfire entered together looking at each other in a strange way, glad to be home after the long fight.

"The H.I.V.E. operatives were unusually mysterious today," said Starfire, curiously.

"Yeah, they were," said Robin airily as if the thought really didn't mean much to him. He refused to look away from Starfire's eyes, finding her much more interesting than their conversation.

They looked at each other a moment and Starfire beamed. This was what she had wanted for so long, for him to look at her the way he did; all his moves were subtle, not overwhelming or distracting. Such as the way he'd glance over at her and give her a secret smile that only they would share. Or the way he took her hand under the table when they sat next to each other at breakfast. How he always saved a slice of pizza with sardines and mustard on it just for her. He was so subtle that she wondered if her fellow Titans had even noticed the now open romance was blossoming in the Tower.

"You're right, but who cares? We kicked their H.I.V.E. butts!"

The exclamation of triumph had come from none other than Terra who had entered behind Starfire and Robin and wedged herself between the two lovers, using their shoulders as arm rests. She looked from one to the other. Robin looked a little disappointed at the distance Terra had successfully made between the two, even if it was only a few inches more than it had been before.

Terra cocked an eyebrow at him with a lopsided grin and then looked to Starfire. "And what about you two, eh? We need a little more PDA from you guys!" And to emphasize her point, she grabbed their wrists and made them hold hands before striding over to Cyborg and Beast Boy and plopping down in between them.

_Maybe we weren't_ that_ subtle,_ Starfire thought to herself with a grin.

* * *

Raven shook out her wet hair and looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't perfect, but she was clean, and that was all she cared about for the moment. She remembered the peculiar behavior of the H.I.V.E. kids during the fight earlier, particularly Jinx, and wondered what those villains could have been up to. Their fighting style was only half-hearted and they had no real business attacking a zoo of all places. It almost seemed like a distraction. She resolved to talk to Robin about it immediately. 

She turned the corner of the hall to see Robin and Starfire casually flirting with each other at the top of the stairs, beaming and joking. She rolled her eyes. She would probably be better received when Robin wasn't marveling at Starfire's presence. With this in mind, she quickened her pace to go downstairs and make herself some tea to calm her nerves, which were still a little on edge from the battle. In her haste, she brushed Starfire's shoulder.

The premonition didn't come immediately. It waited to pounce on her until the most inopportune moment. Raven was halfway down the stairs when she was overcome with the worst sense of dread she had ever experienced.

Nothing. After that... there was nothing.

What happened next occurred in under a millisecond. Raven spun around to warn them and watched them as Starfire continued to chat amiably, drowning in Robin's attention.

And then it happened in less then a moment and Starfire was in Raven's arms and Robin's face was covered in blood.

Robin had a dazed sort of half smile on his features, as if he hadn't exactly acknowledged what had happened yet. But within the next few seconds, his eyes grew wide as his mouth opened a little. Raven was already looking over her shoulder and screaming for Cyborg to help get her to the medical wing.

* * *

"Hey guys, I've been lookin' all over for you, check out all the free samples of alcohol I scored from—Holy Hell, what happened here?" 

Terra's arms were filled with tiny bottles of liquor and they quivered at the sight of Starfire in white linen sheets. To her credit, she didn't drop her prize, but all the color drained from her face.

Everyone was solemn. They looked at Terra briefly, then back to Starfire. Terra realized she was still holding her armful of alcohol. Snapping to her senses, she immediately unloaded it on another bed and joined her friends, who were all waiting for Starfire to awaken.

As if on cue, the Tameranian slowly opened her eyes, looking dazed. She looked around at the assembled crowd and smiled, her eyes weak.

"My friends..." she said, sounding somewhat strange. "Am I ill? Do I have the pox of chickens? Or perhaps the smaller variety?"

"No chicken pox," said Cyborg with a nod and a reassuring smile.

"I do not look like a chicken?" Starfire said, her smile looking a little weaker.

"I've seen plenty of chickens," said Beast Boy from the back, "and none are as pretty as you. Almost none."

Starfire laughed a bit, but it was raspy, more like a cough than an expression of mirth. "So what is wrong with me? I do not have pox of any kind. I am not stricken with the coma, for I would be unable to speak. It is perhaps a bad icy illness? I have been feeling an odd chill recently."

"I'm afraid it's not a cold either, Star," said Cyborg, his voice quiet as if he were in a church. "Uh... to tell you the truth, we aren't quite sure what the problem is yet. But don't think we won't find out."

"Cyborg's working on it," said Robin, stepping forward. "He knows the best doctors in the state. We'll work this, like we work anything."

Starfire's smile grew as she saw her beloved. "Handsome man comes to save the day."

Robin chuckled, sadly. He sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand. "That's how it works."

Slowly, they all filed out of the room. All but Robin, who stayed by Starfire's side. Beast Boy and Raven remained in the doorway.

"Star and Rob?" said Beast Boy with a raise of his eyebrow.

"You didn't know?" Raven said, skeptically.

Beast Boy shrugged before turning to leave "No one tells me these things."

* * *

"Information," Robin said, the second he'd assembled the Titans in the living room. "That's what we need. Cyborg, you said there's something unusual affecting her body?" 

Cyborg looked grave as he nodded. "I... I can't be too sure. I just monitored the stats, and I'm no licensed doctor, but I find no trace of a virus, bacteria or any other pathogen of any kind."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" said Terra from her safe corner on the couch. They looked back at her. She was hugging her knees, her blue eyes wide.

Terra had voiced their unspoken hope, but Cyborg shook his head. "There's something definitely wrong. You don't just cough up blood and fall unconscious for no reason. And..." Cyborg bit his lip and closed his eyes, fighting some internal battle he would never let them see.

"What?" Raven said, a little frustrated.

Cyborg looked straight at her, as if drawing stoicism from her cold eyes. "Some parasitic agent is working its way through, burrowing inside her cells and hiding there. As near as I can tell..."

"Get to the point," Robin said.

"Her organs..." Cyborg closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he continued, more composed. "Her organs are cooking. In twenty-four hours, there'll liquify."

Silence befell them like a plague. Beast Boy shook away his horrified look and replaced it with determination. "No," he said. "Not this girl. Not today."

"Raven," said Robin, turning to their resident magic expert. "You know about mystical afflictions. Could this be a curse or something?"

At the word 'curse,' Raven suddenly went paler than her normal shade of gray. "Curse... Jinx. There was something off about that fight earlier today. I was going to mention it to you, but then Starfire... It had completely slipped my mind."

"Jinx just got herself an apartment," Beast Boy said suddenly. "Down on the corner of 8th and Elm. That's what intelligence says anyway. Apparently she's been commuting."

"Get on it," Robin ordered. "Raven, Terra, and Beast Boy, I want you to hit her when she's not ready for it. Pound her for everything she knows."

"And me?" Cyborg said.

"You're staying here with me," Robin replied. "Get a hold of those doctors you were talking about earlier. I'm going to sit with Starfire..." Robin trailed off. Then, he spun to Raven, Terra and Beast Boy. "Report back to me _immediately _when you get anything from Jinx."

"Wouldn't want to do otherwise, man," said Beast Boy.

* * *

As he bid the others farewell, Robin nearly collapsed on the floor. He forced his legs to be strong and his mind to focus on something else. But all he could think about was her. 

Cyborg was already on the phone with countless physicians across the country, getting opinions and advice, as well as promises of medical visits. Robin could hear their voices as they told Cyborg what to do.

_Look for this, try that... Your friend would make for an interesting case study..._

"No," Robin said, staring at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Rob?" Cyborg called over his shoulder.

"Starfire is nobody's case study. I... I'm going to go check on her."

But when he went to the medical wing, she wasn't there. Panicked he looked around and found her in the adjoining room, drenched in sweat and throwing books off the wall. She turned upon hearing his entrance and looked at him with wide green eyes, a frightened doe with no where to run.

But she shook it off, and her red hair fell across her eyes. She looked wild in the unforgiving florescent lights as she grasped the lab desk, knocking over Petri dishes, searching for something.

"Starfire, calm down. You need to rest. That's what's best now."

"No..." said Starfire, breathlessly. "No, Robin, I must find the source of my pain... Everything is within these tomes, Cyborg could always... Robin I must know, I can do this... I... Something could have been missed..."

But Robin hushed her as he hurried to her. "What you need to do is sleep. You're exhausted. Whatever's happening to you, we'll stop it, I swear to you..."

"I can not sleep..." Starfire said, tears appearing in her eyes. "I must..."

"Let me bring you back to bed."

"No!" This was a more adamant cry than her previous attempts. She turned to him, rivulets of her desperation trailing down her cheeks. "I am not a delicate helpless creature that needs to be saved; I am not your victim to defend! I have gone through years of monsters and villains, I am a heroine! And I will not just lie down feebly and let this happen; I am _better_ than that!" She faltered and looked down, sniffing. "But I wonder... how very scared I am..."

She was breathing heavily at the end of this, her chest heaving and her skin white as she quivered like she was freezing. Robin couldn't bare it.

"Please," she said simply with her chapped lips. "Please, I have to help you..." But even as she said the words, her knees gave way beneath her and she fell, but he caught her and held her to his chest as she sobbed.

"What is wrong with me?"

* * *

It didn't take them long to find Jinx's apartment. Raven easily got rid of the door. 

Jinx was on a ratty looking couch watching TV and tossing Cheetos into her mouth. She saw them and prepared to fire when Raven, quick on the draw, encased her in dark energy and lifted her off the floor, where she kicked and screamed.

"Don't you people _knock_?"

"You don't deserve that courtesy, Jinx," hissed Raven, eyes glowing red.

"What do you want? You hurt me, you'll have the H.I.V.E. on your ass!"

"We just want to talk," said Terra, her face cold. "So sing, birdie."

"Talk?" said Jinx, looking genuinely surprised. "About what, your bad fashion sense?" She directed this last comment to Raven.

"Starfire," Terra said, before Raven could reply with a biting retort. "What did you do to her?"

"Starfire?" said Jinx, almost laughing. "Why would we want to do anything to Starfire?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Raven returned.

Jinx tilted her head and looked at Raven seriously. "You're kidding, right?"

"You _are_ one of our more annoying enemies," said Beast Boy.

"Exactly," said Jinx. "We'd never want to _really _get rid of you."

This statement stumped the Titans. Seeing this, Jinx sighed and explained.

"What is the H.I.V.E., people, hm? An academy to train talented villains and villainesses like myself. You are the H.I.V.E.'s best obstacle course. Granted, you're bitches, but the students need something relatively worthy to go up against. You provide the perfect challenge. We use you, freaks, and I can't believe you haven't figured that out yet."

"Why you little—"

"Starfire's sick," Terra said quickly, making sure Raven didn't try to attack Jinx. "And it happened after our little scuffle with you."

For the first time, Jinx looked horrified. "I-I don't know why you would link _us_ to a simple sickness," she said.

"Curse," Raven hissed ominously. "A curse. She's not exactly being attacked by a virus, Jinx. And I'm sure you know perfectly well what I'm talking about."

"The only thing I know perfectly well about _you_ Raven," Jinx replied, her confidence returned, "is that you have _got_ to hit the mall sometime. That outfit is so passé."

That was the last straw. Raven lost her concentration and dropped Jinx, ready to rip her head off of her neck. Jinx, too was in attack mode; it seemed as though this had been exactly what she was waiting for.

"Stupid witch bitch!" Jinx snapped.

"Says the poser," Raven retorted as Jinx advanced.

"Raven, please!" Terra cried but before anything could happen there was a booming roar.

Between the Titans and their villain stood an angry looking green lion who succeeded in making Jinx back off into the wall. Beast Boy reared up on his hind legs and put one paw on either side of Jinx's head. She looked from paw to paw, then straight into the lion's eyes as he transformed back into Beast Boy.

"Listen to me, Jinxy. Koriand'r Star once said to me after a sinful amount of tofu and in lieu of absolutely nothing: 'I think a lot of people would like to be green. Your shade, if they had the choice.' If I find out that you had even the most miniscule role in what's happened to her, Raven won't even have time to kill you."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Not even the two other Titans had ever heard Beast Boy speak like that before.

"Alright, alright," Jinx said at last with a sigh. "I don't know much, OK? All I know is what I was ordered to do.

"The H.I.V.E. big shots told Gizmo, Mammoth and me to wreak havoc at this random zoo. You know what happened there. They didn't tell us why or anything. But last minute, they made us take this box. They put it in my charge. I was curious, so I tried to open it and it didn't work. I was promptly scolded. The box, they said, was for the Teen Titans. Should they interfere, I was to toss it like a bomb and get the hell out of there."

"Which explains the quick retreat," muttered Raven.

Terra, who had been calm before, flared up as she pushed Beast Boy aside and held Jinx up by the neck of her shirt.

"What else?" she demanded, her eyes wide. "What else did you do to her?"

Jinx, for the first time in her life, didn't know what to say. "I-I-I told you all I know, I swear!"

"You're lying!" Terra shrieked, near tears.

"She isn't," said Raven, simply. "I can tell. Let her go, Terra. She's useless to us now."

Slowly, Terra let Jinx go and backed away. She was breathing hard, trying to find the composure that had been present when they'd first entered Jinx's apartment.

"Wait," said Jinx, scrambling to her feet. The Titans paused. Jinx's eyes darted around the apartment. "The H.I.V.E. is... older than you guys think it is. I heard rumors... something big is supposed to happen. Find anything on the Old Ones."

There was no obvious change in Raven's expression. But her body stiffened. And her friends noticed. Before they could ask, she simply said. "We need to get back to the tower. Now."

* * *

Raven tossed a heavy volume onto the kitchen table with a cloud of dust. 

"It's called Illyria," she said simply, her face straight. "The God King of the Old World. It's shrouded in legend, I'm not sure... but apparently its kingdom used to be around this area."

"What... _is_ it?" Cyborg asked, his voice quiet.

Raven was solemn. "An impossibly powerful demon. Or rather, the soul of one." She opened the book and turned to a page. "According to this, its reincarnation was fated to happen. They were like dinosaurs; you know, everything was bigger back then. Some of the demons you see today are only a fraction of the size—and strength— of an ancient demon like Illyria. All the Old Demons who used to live on earth died, including the really powerful ones. They were entombed somewhere called the Deeper Well."

"Which is?" Beast Boy prompted.

"A burial ground," Raven replied, "or resting place. For all the remaining Old Ones."

"This one isn't resting," Terra muttered.

"No..." whispered Cyborg looking down. He closed his eyes and didn't look up again.

"Starfire's skin... it's hardening like a shell. I-I think maybe she's being hollowed out..."

"...So this thing can use her to gestate, to claw its way back into our world..." Raven said, almost in awe. She looked around at everyone, now staring at her. "That's just speculation. Either way, she dies–"

"Any chance of finding this deeper well?" Robin asked, breezing right past Raven's last sentence.

Raven nodded. "I have a good idea where it is."

"Find it," said Robin in a fierce voice just above a whisper.

"There might be someone there... a guardian, maybe several," Raven warned.

"Let 'em send an army," Beast Boy said, punching his hand.

"How do we know that will help?" Terra asked, timidly.

"The Deeper Well is like a prison for the dead. You don't necessarily get out scot free," said Raven. "It's written that anything that gets out can be drawn back to the source."

"That's our shot," said Robin.

"Well... Keep working here. But yeah, I think you're right," said Raven.

"Go," Robin ordered in that harsh whisper.

Raven nodded dutifully and Beast Boy assigned himself to go with her. Terra and Cyborg were on their way to follow, but Robin stopped them.

"No," he said, a faraway look to his eyes. "Cyborg. Doctors. You're the only one who remotely understands any of it. And Terra, I want you going through books, reading up on this big evil demon thing. I want to know everything about it. What makes this whole reincarnation thing possible and how we're supposed to stop it."

"And you?" Terra said, already knowing the answer.

Robin sighed, his eyes cast downward. "I'll be with Starfire."

* * *

Terra stared at the stack of books Raven had conveniently dropped on her desk. She didn't know where to begin, nor if she really wanted to. She sighed, head resting in her hands as her elbows rested on the desk. Robin had told her, nay, _ordered_ her to research this thing. And as much as she wanted to help Starfire, in anyway she could, she wasn't sure if she could face what she had done. 

She knew Jinx had been telling the truth, which is why she had reacted so badly to it. She wanted Jinx to be lying, maybe setting Terra up to take the fall, framing her... Only, she wasn't. And if Terra saw a picture of that box, the one she had studied for a week, she would know. It was all her fault.

Three months ago, Terra had met a dealer on the streets of Jump City. It was during one of her nightly walks she would take to get away from the Tower and all the things it represented—all the things she could never quite match up to. She was no hero, at least not to her own mind. She was a girl, a vagabond, meant to wander not settle, and she didn't belong anywhere. Which is why the Titans scared her so. They called themselves friends, allies, and gave her a home. She had never had these things before. And for a reason. Everywhere she went, she brought bad luck.

She took these walks to gather a few moments to herself every night after playing the happy, friendly team member during the day. After all the time she spent with the Titans, she still didn't quite feel like she could measure up to all they were. They were so high above her, she couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like up at their level. She had caused so much trouble everywhere she'd been... She wasn't worthy.

And then the dealer promised her that she would be.

He dealt in a special kind of drug, a stimulant mainly for people with her physical makeup: super heroes. For a small fee, he would strap her to his chair and stimulate her mind with electric currents which engorged the part of her mind that held her powers. It made her quicker, more adept, and powerful. And to her mind itself, she felt like she was getting smarter, more logical, strategic, and intuitive. Overall, it made her better, and it matched her to their level.

Her friends commented on her improvement and it made her feel like she was finally worth something; she felt as though she could finally compete at their level and at last give them the help and support they needed. She had become somebody out of the nobody Terra she used to be, and for the first time in a long time, she had felt like she'd had a home.

Three weeks ago, the effects of the drug had worn off. Her performance decreased tremendously and she was dying for another dose. She found the dealer right where she'd left him, begging for another brain-jolt. Only this time, he was more expensive.

"The first one's free," he said. "But the second upgrade comes with a steeper price."

As it turned out, the dealer actually worked for the H.I.V.E. and his bosses required a mystical box. It had been on its way to them directly, but the delivery had been intercepted and a museum housed it. The dealer wanted a job out of Terra. She was to fetch him the box from the museum, and he would give her the power she craved. Due to the mental addiction the procedure had left on her, she agreed wholeheartedly. She knew it would eventually have its price...

But she didn't know that price would be Starfire.

Her dark habits were definitely coming back to haunt her as she stared at the tomes before her which may have held both the key to Starfire's salvation and her own destruction perhaps on the same page. Did she dare risk discovery if it meant saving Starfire?

Terra closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she grabbed a leather bound book with both hands, pulling it towards her. Regardless of what it meant about her, Starfire was the priority. Friends always are.


	2. The Deeper Well

**_Author's Note:_** Ok, so this story wasn't a hit. Whatever. I post this for the singular person who seems to be following it. _Teen freak,_ this is for you. Also, FFN was being a bitch, so you have oooooooooo for scene breaks instead of lines. Which for some reason it's not letting me do. Go figure.

Chapter Two: The Deeper Well

Raven piloted the T-Ship with ease through the empty skies with Beast Boy next to her as co-pilot. The Deeper Well was farther than she'd thought; hidden deep in southern Italy and they needed to fly there. Her thoughts were on one thing, the same thing that everyone else's thoughts lingered on: Starfire. What would become of her? What was happening to her?

"So, uh... Ever fly this far before?"

Beast Boy was making small talk, and for once in her life, Raven appreciated the sentiment. The silence was giving her too long to dwell on her thoughts and the pessimistic outcomes they always ended up with.

"Not really," said Raven. "You know Cyborg never lets anyone near this thing. I'm surprised. I don't think he even thought about it when we left. He was too busy with... other things."

"Huh, yeah," said Beast Boy, staring out at the expanse of sky on either side of them. "Um... I brought those liquor bottles Terra knocked off. I was thinking, I dunno, maybe after we save Starfire we could have a party or something, you know? I mean, I know you're not big on parties but—"

"Don't forget to order the pizza," Raven said. Noting Beast Boy's shocked silence, she explained. "I'll just be happy that we'll have something to celebrate."

There was an odd silence. Beast Boy's voice came as a whisper from his corner as he tried to look as far away from Raven as possible.

"I can't lose her, Rae."

"We won't," said Raven resolutely, hands on the joystick looking straight ahead. And a little more quietly, she repeated it, as it resounded in her mind. "We won't."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Raven diagnosed Starfire's illness as mystical, and Cyborg talked to as many professionals as he could get a hold of, the half-robot knew that there had to be another way to approach this. Dialing some old friends, he knew he had to get someone down here, a mystic, exorcist, _anybody_, that could help get this demon out of Starfire.

"You're not hearing me," he said angrily into the phone. "I know you've got healers working for you. I don't care if the Old Ones scare them. I don't care if the Old Ones kill them. Get their asses down here, or you're gonna be in a world of hurt. No, I am not talking about a lawsuit. I'm talking about bones that go crunch, and if you think—"

Cyborg sighed as the other line went dead and helplessly hung up the phone. That had been his last magical resource out of the few he even knew. This was a job much better suited for Raven. But she was out finding the source.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Cyborg was on it again. "Yeah."

"Mr. Cyborg," said a gruff voice on the other line. "I've run the tests on the samples you sent me—"

"A little late, man," said Cyborg wearily. "We know what's wrong."

"You do?" said the voice.

"An alien pathogen spiking up her body temperature to internally cook her organs? Oh yeah, believe me, we know."

"When you say pathogen... you mean you found a trace of it in the patient's blood?"

Cyborg frowned. What an odd question. "Er... not exactly."

"Then how do you know it's a pathogen at all? Our tests show that nothing alien is wrong with her at all. The cells causing the temperature spike is actually part of the patient's own supply. It seems almost as though her body is turning on itself, boiling its own organs until they shrivel and evaporate in order to make room for something else. Now, I am not familiar with the Tamaranian life cycle, however perhaps this is simply—"

"It's a pathogen," hissed Cyborg insistently. "We know. The agent is hiding itself inside her cells, you have to look harder. Starfire is not cocooning from caterpillar to butterfly; whatever bursts out of her will not be pretty; she is _dying_ and you're telling me she's doing it to _herself_?"

There was silence on the other end which gave Cyborg the minimalist comfort that at least he had impressed upon him the seriousness of the situation.

Finally, the doctor replied. "Freeze her," he said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's possible to cryogenically freeze the patient in order to slow down the progressing agent; stop it in its tracks, if you will. This will not cure her, but at least it will give enough time to—Hello? Mr. Cyborg... Hello?"

But Cyborg had already taken off down the hall.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

She was asleep in the medical unit. He was flipping through a book as he waited patiently by her side.

"Robin...?"

Instantly, he looked up, ready at her whim. "What do you need?"

She coughed as sweat dribbled down her forehead, screwing her green eyes shut tight before opening them again. "What is the hour? Is it still today? I mean..."

"You only slept for an hour," said Robin. "Was I making too much noise?"

"Not at all," said Starfire. "I wish you would make more. I wish to stay awake. I have lost an hour. I do not want to lose anymore."

"You need your rest," said Robin, quietly.

"I need to stay with you," Starfire replied, her eyes bloodshot despite her nap.

Robin smiled and put his book down. "Don't worry. We'll fix this. You'll have plenty of hours to spare when we're done. Raven and Beast Boy are on their way to finding you a cure and I wouldn't want to be standing in their way. Cyborg's been speaking to the best medical minds out there. Terra's researching the big bad that thinks it can beat you. But nothing can beat you. Because you're just... you that way."

"And you?"

"I'm here to stay with you," said Robin, taking her hand. "I've never been much good at this comforting stuff. But you needed someone. And I need..." he sighed, as if this were hard for him to say. "I need you."

His confession did not go unnoticed by Starfire as a broad grin spread across her pasty features and cut through her pain. "It is odd that when in a dire situation as this, all I can think of is how... bad I must look." She laughed, but it was strained, and her throat sounded as though it was constricting. She fought the urge to begin coughing violently and instead swallowed it with her ever optimistic smile.

Robin pushed a strand of moist hair out of her eyes and behind her ears.

"You're..." he hesitated, then smiled and closed his eyes, nodding. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Starfire sighed and closed her own eyes. "Your lie is blatant, but appreciated," she said, her voice becoming hoarser.

Robin looked at her. He didn't say it, because he knew it would somehow come out corny and inappropriate... but he'd meant what he said. Something about Starfire lying there, drenched in sweat and still shining with that spark of defiance made her a glorious sight to behold in his opinion. At her weakest moment, Robin had never seen anyone so strong.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

With every word she soaked in, Terra grew more horrified. Illyria was a great monarch and warrior of the demon age, a period which, Terra learned, came long before dinosaurs and even single-celled organisms. They were the oldest of the old, and they were all gone, most of them entombed in this Deeper Well. Illyria, it seemed, had been murdered by rivals and its spirit was drawn into a small coffin that lay entombed in the Deeper Well. As she stared at the artist's rendering of the octagonal box, her heart plummeted into her stomach.

It was the very same item she herself had helped the enemies to pilfer.

Biting her lip, she stood up and grabbed a coat that was draped over her chair.

"Where are you going?"

She looked up to see Cyborg and faltered, reflexively slamming the open book on her desk shut as though it would scream her secret to him.

"I... I was going to do a little follow up interrogation of Jinx. There's some things here... I think she could clear it up."

"Wait," said Cyborg, a fire in his eyes. "I have an idea. We could freeze it."

"What?" said Terra.

"This thing, this demon thing—we could freeze it in its tracks until Raven and Beast Boy get back with a way to get rid of it for good. And Starfire wouldn't be suffering anymore."

"Sounds good in theory," said Terra, getting excited herself. And for a moment, her heart leapt back up to its usual position. "But can you do that?"

Cyborg hesitated, running the process through in his mind. "We can try."

They started on samples of Starfire's blood and found that nothing worked.

"Dammit!" Cyborg cursed, standing up and hastily backing away from the microscope.

"Dammit?" said Terra. "No, no, no, you can't say 'dammit!' You have to make this work!"

"I-I tried, but—They're impervious to the cold. The bad cells, they—the blood freezes, but they just keep going like it's a sunny day in Jump City, I..."

"OK, so no gold there," said Terra. She nodded, fairly OK with this as she looked up at him with a straight, expectant face. "What else have you got?"

"This isn't a solution store here," said Cyborg, gesturing at himself. "I don't just pull ideas out of my ass, this is bigger than all of us. You can't just look at me and ask what else I have! That's all, Terra—that's it."

Terra's eyes watered as her heart fell back into her stomach again. She let out a frustrated growl as her fingers raked through her long blonde hair as if something would fall out of it that would help. At a loss, she clenched her hands into fistfuls of yellow hair and rested her elbows on the desk.

"There's got to be something... I won't let her die like this."

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Miles away, Beast Boy and Raven were fighting battles of their own.

"You OK over there?" Beast Boy called over his shoulder after throwing off a ninja-clad guard of the Deeper Well.

Raven had encased another one in black energy and tossed it so hard against the wall, it made a huge dent.

"Swell," she said bitterly, taking on another.

Beast Boy morphed into a rhino and charged into a group of three ninja guards, scattering them all like bowling pins. An eagle in an instant he soared straight up and did a loop before rolling—quite literally—into four more ninjas as a hippo.

For her part, Raven had the other half of the guards pretty much occupied. Not a one could touch her as she fired off dark energy left and right. Her fury fired her power as she went through the guards with minimal effort, anxious to get it over with and through the door to the Deeper Well.

Eventually, the guards disappeared.

"That's it? Aw, I was just getting warmed up," said Beast Boy, rubbing his knuckles.

"I dare say that's enough," came a mysterious British voice. Raven and Beast Boy spun around. Raven nodded.

"Drogyn."

"You would be Raven."

Raven nodded. "Keeper of the Well."

"My task for decades," replied the man curtly. "I've been expecting you. Your arrival was foretold." He was dressed as though he hadn't been shopping in five hundred years. His long straggly hair fell to his shoulders, which was covered in medieval armor.

"Who--?" started Beast Boy

"Do _not_ ask me questions!" said Drogyn swiftly turning on Beast Boy. "If you ever try to ask me another question again, I will kill you outright and don't think that I won't."

"He can," said Raven, nodding approvingly. "He would."

"He would?"

"Questions!" Drogyn snapped.

"I was asking Raven!" Beast Boy said, hands up defensively.

Drogyn turned to Raven. "You would be here about Illyria."

"Yes," said Raven.

"Come with me."

"But how—"

Drogyn spun on his feet and held a saber to Beast Boy's throat. "Did I not just say to you not a moment ago _don't ask_!"

"Seriously," said Raven as Drogyn retreated to the Deeper Well. "He doesn't like questions."

"Well why not?" Beast Boy demanded, incensed.

Raven watched Drogyn warily a moment before following as she said to her companion, "He can't lie."

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"Draw the blinds. The light... it hurts my eyes."

The request was quiet and hoarse as Starfire turned over in the hospital bed away from the window, hugging her pillow. Robin stood to do so when he was distracted by her again.

"But wait—no. I like it. I enjoy the sunshine... but it hurts." These last words came out in a pitiful whine as she screwed her eyes shut. "Everything, so bright and hollow..." Robin hesitated, unsure of what to do, but at the sight of Starfire hugging the pillow to her chest and her knees to the pillow made him swiftly close the blinds. He was once again at her side as he sat on the edge of her bed behind her, stroking her hair. She cringed and coughed and tried to get closer to him.

"I have often dreamed... of having you by my side like this," said Starfire. "It has taken much too long..."

"Yes," said Robin simply, looking down. "It has."

"On Tamaran," she explained, "when I was ill, Galifore would prepare the Stew of Wellness in hopes it would hasten the healing process." She sighed. "As a child, I always thought that it was like medicine. But looking back, it seems, it did not do as much as I thought it did."

"Placebo effect," Robin muttered with a smile. "Mothers do a lot of that here too." He paused, then an idea occurred to him. "I don't know about a Tamaranian Stew of Wellness, but I could make you some chicken soup, if that would help."

Starfire sighed and shook her head, her eyes shut tight again. She swallowed before answering. "I do not believe my stomachs are capable of digesting at this point in time. I feel... the nausea..." She coughed and shivered under the mountains of blankets, and yet she was sweating profusely.

All of a sudden, she sat straight up, worried. "Gristolarg!" she cried, and started yammering away in Tamaranian, tears streaking down her cheeks. Robin had no idea what to do so merely encompassed her in his arms and whispered into her damp hair.

"Sh, sh," he said, hushing her, hoping she'd calm down. "What's Gristolarg?"

She looked at him, almost frightened. "He's my..." but she paused in thought, and looked panicked. "I-I don't remember..."

She sniffed and buried her head in the nape of Robin's neck as he soothed her, laying down with her back on the bed.

"Please, Robin," she said. "You cannot leave me."

"I have no intention of doing so," said Robin.

"Never leave me..."

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Beast Boy scampered after the both of them, trying to keep up. As they wound their way down a dark tunnel, he caught up with them, jogging at Raven's side.

"So you knew we were coming then."

Drogyn glared at Beast Boy, who held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, that was a statement. I already know you did because you said so. And she obviously has heard of you." He, in turn, glared at Raven, obviously annoyed that she hadn't told him about Drogyn.

"I'll tell you as much as I can," said Drogyn, ignoring Beast Boy. "The Old Ones were demons pure. They warred as we would breathe—endlessly. The greater ones were interred, for death was not always their end. Illyria was feared and beloved as few are. It was laid to death in the very depths of the Well... until it disappeared a month ago."

"Someone took it from under your nose a month ago and you didn't miss it 'til now?" said Beast Boy with raised eyebrows. He couldn't help smiling. "That makes you quite the crappy jailer, doesn't it." This earned him another vicious glare from Drogyn and he sighed. "Also a statement."

Drogyn looked at Raven, wearily. "Your friend likes to talk."

"So much, he's even right sometimes," said Raven. "They say that the Guardian of the Well can't be stolen from so easily."

"The coffin was not stolen," Drogyn clarified. "It disappeared. I believe it was predestined to do so as part of Illyria's ancient escape plan. As for my not noticing..." Drogyn trailed off as the three of them found themselves on a bridge that crossed a huge chasm with no ceiling in sight and nothing coming from the bottom.

Both Raven and Beast Boy stopped suddenly, awestruck.

Drogyn smiled, knowing this would have an affect on them. "As you can see, my charges are not few."

Indeed they were not. Along the walls of the circular pit, all the way down until the artist's vanishing point, sarcophagi of all sizes floated, barely attached, one on top of the other.

"Holy..." Beast Boy started as he stared over the edge.

"How far does this go down?" Raven asked, unable to hide her own astonishment.

"All the way. All the way through the Earth." said Drogyn simply.

"And Illyria just... disappeared?" said Raven. "And somehow made her way to us..."

" Illyria's power was great, even among its kind," said Drogyn. "So great that even now, today on Earth, it still has acolytes..."

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Terra left a dismal Cyborg alone. Neither of them felt like talking at that point in time. He had retired to his faithful video games, waiting on someone, anyone, to call in a cure as though everything would be fixed by some divine force.

More realistic, Terra hoped that Beast Boy and Raven would find the solution. She hugged her arms as she stood looking at the piles of books on her desk. She realized then that nothing she looked up would help. There was nothing in those books that they didn't already know. Except for... the box. That small octagonal box that could fit in the palm of her hand. She hadn't thought at the time that it would cost her anything personally, but she knew it was evil. She should have known that while gray clouds have their silver linings, perfect deals have their strings attached.

All of a sudden, the lights began to flash red around her. She ran to the living room, where Robin and Cyborg had already assembled.

"Sorry to interrupt," said the man on the screen, a nervous new recruit of the JCPD. "I know you're, um, in the middle of your own crisis and all, but—"

"It can wait," Robin interrupted, sternly.

The police man looked annoyed. "This is really important!" he said. "I mean... Well, the whole police force can't be working your case—"

But Robin had already cut communications. He turned on his heel. As he was calmly leaving, he said to Cyborg, "Tell anyone who's not working our case to report to me." And with that, he walked back to Starfire's room.

Terra and Cyborg exchanged horrified looks.

"I've never seen him like this," she said, her eyes lingering on his exit.

"I have," said Cyborg, gravely. "Once. He went crazy over Slade. Even turned on us... Something was wrong with him back then, though."

"And you're saying everything's punky dory with him now?" Terra said, her voice reaching unusually high pitches. She calmed down and looked at the floor. "He's not OK, Cyborg. None of us are."

There was silence and for a moment, Terra thought Cyborg was lost in his thoughts. But then, he answered her.

"It's because he loves her, Terra," he said, stating the obvious as though there was nothing else to say. He sighed and shook his head, looking defeated. "We all do."

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When Robin returned, Starfire was tossing and turning in her sheets. They were twisted around her limbs as restraints as she tried frantically to kick them off, babbling away in both English and Tamaranian in a feverish delirium.

Shocked only for a moment, instinct kicked in, and Robin hastily unwrapped a pre-packaged hypodermic syringe. He sat down next to the writhing Starfire and grabbed her arm, trying to sedate her—only to find that the needle couldn't penetrate her hardening skin.

Terrified, he stood up immediately and the needle fell to the floor.

"Oh no!" shouted Starfire in one of her brief bouts of English. "Oh please! I have done something wrong and this—this is my punishment! I am being punished! Oh please, I do not know what is wrong! What have I done—I never took the cookie from the jar, I swear it... Sorry! So sorry! Please! Make it stop..."

As she kicked and screamed, the tears tumbled from her eyes pointlessly. She looked like she was wasting away, her skin pale and hard, her eyes wild.

For the first time in his life, Robin felt completely powerless as he watched her agony, backing away slowly towards the wall until he ran into a counter top behind him. His hands gripped the edge of the counter behind him hard until his knuckles were white, biting his lip until it bled. The metallic taste was bitter in his dry mouth. He looked on with the most torturous emotion to him. He did everything. He saved the city. He saved his friends on countless occasions; he solved masses of mysteries; he helped the helpless. The helpless...

He let out a small yelp like a lost dog trying to find its way home again and then realizing it has lost its sense of smell. He was lost in the darkness without anything to lead him back, not even that infallible sixth sense that had always seemed to get him out of trouble in the past. Everywhere he turned was a dead end. When he didn't hear silence he heard misleading echoes. His hands were tied and there was no scent on the wind that would give him any clue.

This thing had gone to extreme measures to draw out Robin's torture. As long as he could have done something to ease the pain, to make her better, then there had been hope, there had been a chance. But now, he was feeling that most obscene emotion, the emotion he only could understand coming from other people.

Indeed. Robin was, like many of the victims he saved, absolutely helpless. And then with a curt gasp, the tears began to leak from his reluctant and weary eyes.

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"The demon's essence," Drogyn said to Raven. "It's been freed..."

"Yeah, it's been freed," snapped Beast Boy, angrily. "What else do you think we're here for, tofu burgers?"

Drogyn looked at him murderously, but Beast Boy no longer cared about being courteous to the Keeper of the Well and launched into a tirade of furious questions. "And what's your favorite color? What's your favorite song? Who's the president of the United States and how many damn fingers am I holding up?"

On either hand, Beast Boy was shamelessly brandishing about his middle fingers until Raven slapped his hands back to his sides again.

"You wanna kill me?" said Beast Boy, daring Drogyn. "Go ahead. But I don't have time for your little quirks! My friend's _life_ is at stake here, and I won't let her die!"

Drogyn took a deep breath and looked at Raven, obviously deciding to ignore Beast Boy and his dares. "The power to draw Illyria back does lie here, as you expected. It requires a hero who has traveled from where it lies to where it belongs."

"You have two of those right here," Raven said, nodding at Beast Boy.

But Drogyn looked panicked. "But I didn't know it was free!" he said, in apologetic fear. He sighed and looked down. "If we bring the box that contained it back to the Well, it will draw Illyria out of your friend... and into every single person between here and there. It will become the mystical equivalent of airborne. It will claw into every soul in its path to keep from being trapped. Entire cities—tens, maybe hundreds of thousands will die in agony if you save her."

Both Raven and Beast Boy were dumbstruck. Neither had expected this.

"No," Raven said firmly. She walked swiftly to the edge of the bridge to look down into the depths of the well.

Beast Boy looked as though he might faint. "That's insane..." he said, still flummoxed.

"This is a place of madness," Drogyn agreed. "I'll prepare the spell. Your choice."

And Drogyn walked across the bridge and into another room.

Raven hesitated, still staring down through the well. Finally, she took a deep breath, determined. "To hell with the world," she said, following Drogyn.


	3. Birth

_**Author's Note:** _It seems I sounded like I was fishing for reviews (I am ashamed-- that was not my intention). What I _meant_ was that from the start, this has been an experiment. I was just testing the waters with Chapter One. At first, it didn't seem popular, but I figured if at least one person was reading, I might as well continue. Thank you, though, for all of your continual support. :o) Fan Fiction is still being frustrating, so again with the "oooooooooo"s

Also, this fic has fluctuated back and forth between T and M. I know it's a little late, but I oughta explain why. This fic is rated for language and violence, plus references to alcohol. This chapter has one mention of "the f word" for dramatic effect. According to critics, a movie can say that word twice before it's R-rated. Therefor, I think I'll leave this as T.

Chapter Three: Birth

He was beside her. He was always beside her. He cradled her like a child in his arms, the girl he would give the world to save. Little did he know, his friends hundreds of miles away were thinking about doing just that.

He had to force himself to be gentle with such beautiful frailty. She trembled in his arms and he felt her slip away inside, her bones turning to Jello and falling through the bars of the gutter into the sewer while her skin became as hard as rock allowing nothing in– and nothing out. And she so very badly wanted to get out.

She was barely herself anymore, and yet Robin had never seen Starfire any more naked. Her conscious coyness stripped away she was lucidly rambling, half in delirium, half in a dream she wished was reality, and had tried so hard to make it so for so long. There was no time left for secrets. There were precious moments shattered like stained glass windows by the omnipresent pain screaming in her ears _This is it, you're going to die._ She had to preserve her sanctuary, as long as it would last, before it all came crumbling down on top of her and there was nothing left but the shell of what it used to be.

"Evil..." she uttered, her lips as tough as porcelain. "It's bigger than all of us. Pure evil... We cannot hope to beat it."

Robin kissed her hair and took a deep breath. "I don't believe that," he said after a moment.

She began to shake and her eyes widened. She backed up against the headboard of the bed and grabbed at the sheets. "No! I'm with him! He won't leave me now– we're so close!" She sobbed the last word.

He took her in his arms again, this time tighter than before, hoping to reassure her. He fought tears himself. "I will never leave you."

Through it all, Starfire gave a triumphant smile as she took a quivering breath. "You hear that? He's with me." She laughed at nothing in particular and buried her face in his chest. "I walk with heroes. Think of that."

"You are one," said Robin, swallowing his emotions.

"Yes..." said Starfire slowly. "A hero... And I shall use all my powers to not let them take me! Not me!"

"That's right. Not you," Robin said, stroking her hair as she calmed down.

She laced her fingers in with his. "Yes. That's right... He's with me..."

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They were staring down at the well. Neither one spoke to the other. Each were coming to terms with the inevitable. It couldn't be done. It _shouldn't_ be done. But it had to be done.

Raven had to save her. At all costs. Never in her life had she met anyone as close as the five friends she knew in the Tower. If she lost one now, she would shut down entirely. Catatonia always seemed like the ideal way to go through life. Without Starfire, there would be no light to look to when the sun went down. She would fall through a hole in the safety net and she would never let anyone in again. Starfire wasn't just her friend, she was her foil, her counterpart, her exact opposite. Her other half, in a sense. Without Starfire, the balance that had been so perfect would be thrown off and Raven would sink, too heavy to swim. Fuck the world. She needed Starfire.

_It might have been preventable_, she told herself, repeatedly. _I should have recognized the box sooner. I should have known my Old Time symbols. I should have read more about it. We should have acted faster. We were too slow. I should have done more, I should have..._

Her mind was filled with should-have-done's. But suddenly, she was faced with a should-do-now. And she didn't like what logic told her. For once in her life, she wanted, more than anything, to follow her heart instead of her head.

She looked up and saw her companion leaning on the rope, quiet for once in his existence, staring blindly down through the well. She wondered at his thoughts.

"Beast Boy..." she began, uncertainly.

"This goes all the way" Beast Boy said suddenly, "through to the other side. So, I figure, there's a guy somewhere around... New Zealand standing on a bridge like this one, looking back down at us. All the way down. There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known."

Raven turned away in shame. For once, Beast Boy was thinking more clearly than she was. With Starfire fading, the whole nature of the universe was torn apart.

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Cyborg and Terra were sitting side by side on the couch together. Neither had said a word in hours. They stared numbly ahead of them. It was quieter than a black hole. Not even the sounds of the outside world seemed to penetrate their ears.

Once in a while, Terra would steal glances at her companion, but he seemed lost in oblivion, staring at the TV blindly. Once or twice, Terra thought of turning it on so he'd at least have something to look at. But she was pretty sure Cyborg was lost to a state of catatonia.

She sighed. It was the first sound either of them had heard in hours. And it sounded alien to their ears, as though they had never heard anything before in their lives but silence. Still, Cyborg didn't move.

Terra rose to her feet, determined to pull the half-robot out of his stupor. She walked to the kitchen and opened a cabinet, bringing out a bottle of Tequila and two shot glasses. She sliced up a lemon and grabbed the salt shaker on the way out.

She slammed her remedy on the coffee table in front of Cyborg and made a loud enough noise to make him jump. He blinked. He looked first at the alcohol and then to Terra, blankly.

"That's not exactly..."

"It is in Europe," Terra said, cutting him off. She kneeled down by the coffee table and wordlessly poured two shots. She handed one to Cyborg who took it without question. She took the salt shaker in hand.

"You do it like this," she explained, licking the inside of her thumb and forefinger. She continued to pour salt on her hand, but when she looked up, she noticed Cyborg's shot was already gone and he was sucking on a lemon wedge. She smiled. "I knew you've done this before."

"Just give me another shot," said Cyborg, emotionlessly. But Terra hesitated. She wondered if he'd do the same after this shot, and the next, and the next. She bit her lip a moment, and then remembered why she'd brought it out in the first place. Nodding, she obliged.

And together, they dealt with it.

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He wouldn't let her go now. Not when they were so close. He needed her more than he'd ever needed anything in his life.

Starfire coughed. "Would you have loved me...?"

Robin stared at the ceiling, contemplating his words. She lay stripped of her sanity in front of him. He was losing her. He had to say the words he had never even admitted to himself. Someone needed to know that there was only one girl in his mind that had never ceased to make him smile fondly. Even now. He laughed and smiled down at her. She was naked before him. He needed to return that trust. Ever so slowly, he reached up to his eyes and removed his mask. Dark eyes looked down at her, never daring to look away. She smiled appreciatively up at him.

"I've loved you..." he whispered, shaking his head but his eyes never leaving hers. "I've loved you since I've known you."

She reached up and traced his eyes with her finger tips, slowly, memorizing the paths of his young and weathered face like the old trails in the forests of her home planet she had known as a child. Somehow, she had always known these eyes. They told her story as clearly as she ever could with words. They held her fondest memories and greatest triumphs. They whispered of her shining secrets and silent sufferings. Yes. If there were any eyes that she knew better, it were her very own. She had always known his eyes. And at last, they finally knew her.

Her hand slid down from his eyes and cradled his cheek. Her touch was cold and clammy, but welcome. She took a deep shuttering breath. "I am so, so very sorry."

Robin hushed her. "Sh, no, no," he said, putting his hand over hers and shaking his head.

She spluttered, choking on her coughs. "You have to tell my family," she said desperately. "Tell them I wasn't scared. That I was brave..." She began to convulse and clung to him tightly. "Oh please..."

Robin held her firmly and looked her in the eye. He wouldn't lose her to this. Not now. "You have to fight, Starfire, listen to me. You don't have to speak, just concentrate on fighting, please. I need you to fight. Be brave just a few moments longer. Just hold on."

"I fear there's nothing to hold onto–" Starfire choked, shaking, her eyes rolling.

Robin shook her. He had to bring her back. He had to save her. "Then hold on to me, Starfire!" he said, his voice firm. In response, her fingers dug into his shoulders as she spasmed.

"Starfire– Starfire!" Robin shouted.

"I'm not scared," she chanted, her eyes screwed up tight. "I'm not scared. I'm not scared..." Her grip slackened and she opened her eyes, looking imploringly into his eyes, searching for that something to hold onto. "Please... Robin... Why can't I stay?"

She shook only a moment more, her eyes bleeding tears and then she was very still with eyes of glass.

And then, the loss realized, emotions burst out of Robin through his eyes, the only outlet they had. He looked her straight in her eyes.

"Please..." he said, his voice shaking. He hugged her close and swallowed. "God, please..."

And then her body began to twitch violently. Horrified, Robin's eyes widened and he grabbed for the security of his mask to hide behind. Starfire's body kicked him away and fell to the floor where it continued to violently convulse. Robin jumped to his feet on the opposite side of the bed and watched warily until there was silence.

Slowly, something sinister rose from the floor wearing Starfire's face like a mask. Streaks of white highlighted Starfire's crimson hair and her eyes were now a startling violet. Violet crept across the edges of her face and streaked down the top of her arms. She lifted her hands and looked at them critically.

"This will do," she said flatly.

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Terra poured Cyborg another shot, her mind on the box she had pilfered. Should she tell him? Could he take it? Was there something else she could do to help Starfire, _anything_ other than get drunk?

All of a sudden, it hit her. Her dealer. He knew. He'd always known. Her eyes grew wide.

She stood up suddenly. "Cyborg, I have to go."

"What?" Cyborg looked dazed and pitiful. "Don't go. I don't... want to be alone..."

Terra smiled at him warmly. "I have to," she said. "Tell Robin I went out." And she grabbed her coat and was gone.

She found him where he always hung out. He laughed at her.

"Tara Markov, how good of you to stop by," he said. She grabbed his collar and shoved him up against the wall. A rock encased itself in yellow energy and loomed ominously over his head.

"Talk to me or I drop it," she said.

"Oh I don't think you'll do– OW!"

The rock landed flatly on his head– but nothing happened. It made a clanking sound and fell to the ground. Terra dropped him as the man fell to the floor, holding his head.

"You dork brain!" he whined in a different– yet annoyingly familiar voice. Terra's eyes doubled in size as she ripped off his hat to find Gizmo in a robotic suit that made him taller– and indeed, impervious to brute force. But that didn't deter Terra. She tore up half the ground around them and aimed it all at him, knowing that at the very least she could bury him.

"You little bastard, you set me up!" she snapped, angrily.

"It wasn't that hard to do," Gizmo retorted. "You were asking for it. So easy. Pour little Terra, so badly not wanting to fail her friends she did so in more ways than one. You should never give in to peer pressure, don't you know."

"Shut up!" Terra snapped. "Only answer my questions. Say one word NOT related to them, and you're six feet under. Literally."

Gizmo looked at the rock and earth that was threatening to bury him and his mouth snapped shut.

Terra smiled. "Good. Now how can we fix this?"

"You can't," he said, grinning.

"Trust me, I think we can," said Terra, calmly. "It's just a matter of knowing how and you freaks do. So give me the answer and I'll think about not killing you."

"I'm serious," said Gizmo, grin still in place. "This was devised by forces you can't even begin to comprehend. Jinx knows all about it, she was the one who turned the H.I.V.E. onto the prophecy of resurrection and she said that nothing could stand–"

"_What?_" Terra hissed.

Gizmo continued. "All we had to do was find a suitable vessel for this God King and make sure it knew who to thank. Does the word 'irreversible' mean anything to you?"

The earth threatening to pulverize Gizmo slowly fell to the ground as Terra backed away, stunned. "No," she said. "I'm talking to the wrong person. You don't know anything about demon lore or magic. Jinx does."

And she was off to her next target.

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Robin stared, his jaw trembling, not knowing what to think or how to react. "Starfire?" he said, uncertainly.

She craned her neck and noticed Robin staring at her. Her expression did not change. "Mortal," she said.

Slowly, Robin moved his lips to form the word, his expression twisting into one of deep sorrow and determination. " Illyria."

Illyria turned cold. "You dare speak my name," she hissed. "You assume that since I have returned in the shell of this hideous mortal that you can speak to me. It's disgusting."

Robin's expression hardened like stone. "Who is Starfire? Koriand'r Star?"

The God King was unfazed by his words, obviously showing she no longer cared to have any contact with him. "I would have thought humanity would have long died out by now. It's been millennia... and instead you've grown bold."

She began to walk around the room. Robin quivered with rage, his eyes burning with hatred. "So you don't know who Starfire is?"

Illyria did not look at him as her fingers traced the counter top of the lab table. "Nor care. Bleat at me no longer. We're done here."

Robin extended his bo-staff, clutching it tightly in sweaty palms. "Yes," he said, coming up behind her. "We are."

The staff shattered into a million pieces when it came in contact with the back of Starfire's rock-solid skull. The skull which now belonged to a dead demon. He stared at the back of her head in disbelief. Illyria didn't even seem to have felt it. Robin wondered, was Starfire still in there at all?

But the blow did seem to jar something in Illyria. Her back straightened. "Oh... Now I remember," she said, turning to Robin and staring him down with violet eyes. "Koriand'r Star is the shell I'm in."

Robin sat on the edge of the hospital bed, feeling defeated. "She's the woman you murdered."

Illyria looked at him in disgust. "Ugh... This is grief. I am watching human grief. It's like offal in my mouth."

Robin looked at her, his eyes alight with a wild fire. "If you stay here, you'll taste it every day." He rose and walked to the window. "Look around. Humans rule the earth."

Illyria followed quickly, suddenly worried. She stared out at the view from the tower at the bright lights of the city sprawled at her feet. Robin looked at her, noting her concern. He continued, hope back in his chest. "They will last for millennia. Like cockroaches, crawling and investing the earth. Crying and laughing, sweating and retching, puking their feelings all over you. Leave this earth. Sleep until the humans are gone. They are weak and foolish and soon will kill each other off. Leave this shell and return in a few thousand years to the world you deserve."

She turned suddenly to look at him, her face blank and her eyes empty. And, looking into them, Robin knew Starfire was gone. He staggered backwards under the weight of this knowledge.

"You seek to save what is rotted through," said Illyria. "This carcass is bound to me. I couldn't change that if I cared to. But you have done me a favor, shown me the truth. If the world is truly overrun by humans..."

She punched Robin hard in the chest and he went flying backwards into the wall.

Illyria looked towards the window. "... Then I have work to do."

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Beast Boy picked up one of Terra's tiny bottles of Jack Daniel's and looked at it skeptically. Making a decision, he swigged the whole two ounces and then made spluttering sounds.

Raven didn't even look away from the sky as he did this.

Sighing, Beast Boy put the empty bottle down among what looked like many more empty bottles of different liquors.

"Nope, that one tasted bad two. I don't know how she stands it, really, do you?" Beast Boy looked hopefully at his friend and teammate.

Raven was unfazed in the pilot's seat.

Beast Boy looked back at the array of tiny bottles. "And you know, it wasn't worth it, either. I mean, you can't even get drunk off of these tiny things– what's the point? I feel fine."

This earned him a glance and eyebrow raise from Raven, who was obviously taking in his light stature. She shook her head and returned to flying the plane.

"Why would anyone _ever_ make a bottle this small?" Beast Boy picked up one of the bottles and looked at it with one eye. "It's cruel and unusual punishment."

He looked up at Raven, who had gone back to her previous practice of ignoring him. He sighed. He looked down at the full tiny bottles in his lap that he still had left. "Thousands would have died if we saved her. She wouldn't have wanted that."

Silence.

"I tried calling the Tower," Raven said, monotonously. "There was no answer."

Beast Boy took a deep breath and stared straight ahead out the windshield. "I guess she's gone then..." He looked at the bottles again and shrugged dramatically. "I mean, it's just such a tease! It's like they want you to _imagine_ you're getting drunk– but really, you're not." He picked up the empty bottle he'd just finished. "It's like, 'Here's what a bottle of Jack would look like if you actually had one.' Or 'It's a drink... But it's _very_ far away..." Beast Boy held the bottle out at arms length and tilted his head back. He made an 'o' with the fingers of his other hand and looked through it like a telescope.

"What does that _mean_ really?" Raven burst out suddenly, sounding frustrated.

Beast Boy looked up at her. "It's a play on perspective. See?" He held up the bottle.

"Gone..." said Raven, as if she hadn't heard him. "What does that mean, that she's 'gone?'"

"Well, in the world we live in, when a person dies, they stay that way," said Beast Boy, logically.

"Unless you're a billion-year-old demon," said Raven.

"Or half of one," Beast Boy added, nodding at her.

Raven bit her lip. "No. Dead can't mean dead. Not when some big evil thing that was supposed to be dead can come back and steal our friend's life like that. If rules can be broken for Illyria, they can easily be broken for Starfire. All we have to do is push hard enough."

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Cyborg ran to the room the instant he heard the crash. He found Robin in a heap, trying to stand and failing. He was at his side at an instant.

"Robin, what happened– You're hurt– Where's Starfire?" The phrases came all at once, as though they were in fact part of the same question.

Robin threw Cyborg's proffered hand aside. "I'm fine," he said, grabbing onto the counter instead to try and help himself up off the floor. With great effort, he succeeded, but he clutched at his chest where Illyria had hit him. "She knocked the wind out of me... But I'm fine."

"Sit down," said Cyborg, calmly, leading Robin to the bed. Despite verbal protests, Robin allowed him to do so and gratefully took a seat as Cyborg turned away and began mixing things.

"You smell like liquor," Robin said, his tone accusing. Cyborg closed his eyes, sighed, and turned around. But Robin's face was devoid of expression. Had he imagined the accusation?

"It never really had an effect on me," he explained. "Just made me a bit sleepy."

"Well, you're a big guy," Robin reasoned.

"Yeah, and only half of me is biologically affected by it," Cyborg said with a weak smile.

There was silence and Cyborg returned to his concoction. When he'd finished, he turned back around and handed a glass to Robin.

"Drink this," he said. "It'll make you feel better."

Robin looked at the milky white substance warily. "What's this? The Tamaranian Stew of Wellness?" The question was bland and empty, as though it could have been poison, and he would have drank it anyway.

"It's a milkshake," said Cyborg simply.

Robin took a sip. "Oh."

"You mentioned..."

"No, I didn't," said Robin, interrupting Cyborg.

"Robin, where's Starfire?" Cyborg was firm with this question, knowing Robin would change the subject if he wasn't.

Robin was looking out the window at the city below. "Gone."

"Gone where?"

"Just... gone..."

Cyborg watched his leader, concerned as Robin continued to stare off out the window. All of a sudden, Robin snapped to attention.

"We have to find her," he said, suddenly.

"Well of course we do– how did she–"

"Where's Terra?" Robin demanded.

"Uh... Out," Cyborg replied.

"I'll get her," said Robin. "Wait here for Beast Boy and Raven. When they get here, we're hunting for Illyria."

Robin made for the door when Cyborg's voice made him stop in the doorway.

"You mean... Starfire?" His voice was hopeful, almost overly optimistic. And they both knew it.

Robin's shoulders slumped. "No," he said. "I mean Illyria."

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Once again, Terra knocked down the door of Jinx's apartment and waltzed right in.

"Jesus!" said Jinx, coming into the hall with a bowl of popcorn. "You Teen Titans have no respect for privacy, do you?"

"What did they tell you to do?" Terra's voice was cold and low as she stared at the floor.

Slowly, a grin spread across Jinx's features and she nodded. "Slipped right past Raven's lie detectors, didn't I? The H.I.V.E. knows how to protect its special operatives. But you¼ You saw right through that, didn't you? At least, now you did. But maybe that was the H.I.V.E.'s doing too. After all, you're one of us now."

"Would everyone just quit _saying_ that?" Terra cried angrily through gritted teeth, eyes now on the ceiling. She took a deep breath. "I am nobody's friend," she said. "Not yours, not the H.I.V.E.'s, not Slade's. I love the Titans¼" she trailed off, now staring at the corner of Jinx's dingy apartment, lost. Jinx leaned forward a bit, hands behind her back as she tried to catch Terra's far-gone gaze.

"¼ But you're not their friend, either," she concluded Terra's thought.

Terra's eyes turned cold again as she whispered one more time: "What did they tell you to do, Jinx?"

"Really," said Jinx, shaking her head. "With all that new power and intellect they put in you and it's taken you this long to figure it out. What a shame."

"I've had other things on my mind," said Terra, her jaw clenched.

"Ah, yes, of course. And how is Starfire these days?"

In an instant, Terra was at her throat, holding Jinx up against the wall with her fist, the earth trembling beneath them.

"You wanna get real straight with me real fast," she warned. "What did they tell you to _do_?" It was a scream now, tears streaking down her face.

Jinx consented, but seemed calm. "The box contains an essence of an old one, a race of ancient demons dead and buried for millions of years in a place called the Deeper Well."

"Not hearing anything I don't already know," Terra said, hitting Jinx's head against the wall again for good measure.

A twisted grin spread across Jinx's face. "Why do you think I'm telling you?"

Terra tossed Jinx across the floor where she got to her feet and dusted herself off. "How do we bring Star back? _How_?"

Jinx just shook her head, now looking solemn. "You can't."

"I don't believe that. You know a way. You _have_ to!" shrieked Terra.

"The H.I.V.E. is through with the Titans," Jinx said. "And this was predetermined long before any of us was even born. Starfire was chosen by my superiors to be the vessel. Get the box out of the museum in exchange for a permanent power dosage to your brain. That was the deal and the extent of my involvement."

"Then take it back!" Terra sobbed, falling to her knees. "Everything you put in my head, the control, the new abilities, the knowledge, everything, take it _back!_ Everything! Take more, leave me a vegetable, I don't care, just bring her back¼" She was out of ideas. She was out of tears. "Please¼" she said softly, shaking her head. "Just bring her back."

"There's nothing left to bring back," said Jinx simply. "Starfire's soul was consumed by the fires of resurrection. Everything she was is gone. Forever. For better or for worse, you made a deal, Terra. I suggest you learn to live with it."

Jinx walked past a stunned Terra to put up her door when she was knocked hard in the side of the head by Robin's bo-staff. Hearing it, Terra spun around horror-struck to see Robin stepping out from behind the doorway, having overheard the entire conversation.

"Is there something you would like to tell me, Terra?"

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Raven walked out of the elevator at a deadly speed and headed straight toward the stairs.

"There's no point."

The defeated voice from the couch made her pause in her determined pace. She didn't turn around.

Beast Boy had wandered in purposelessly behind Raven and was staring at his friend, sitting at the couch, staring blankly at the TV with a shot glass in hand. He approached him cautiously.

"Cyborg..." He reached out to his long-time friend, the friend whom he had laughed with and played video games with. The friend who had always understood him, no matter what. The friend who had always refused to leave his side. The man who was older, wiser, and more mature than all of them, and yet hadn't forgotten what it was like to be a kid. The man Beast Boy looked up to more than Robin or any other member of the team. And he could see that his friend was breaking.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Raven's voice almost disappeared in the folds of the hood she hid behind.

"Long gone," Cyborg affirmed, downing the shot and putting it on the table.

Beast Boy closed the distance between Cyborg and himself. "Dude..." he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You know it wasn't your fault..."

Slowly Cyborg looked up at Beast Boy, his eyes red. "I can't do this, Beast Boy. I can't sit here and pretend I believe everything's OK. I dabble in medicine, I'm no doctor, but I know enough about it and I've spoken to professionals who know more, and they all told me... I knew she was gone before you guys did. Before Robin did. I knew she was gone the second I saw her organs cooking. And I couldn't do a damn thing about it..."

Beast Boy wrapped his arms around Cyborg's neck. It was a strange sight for unprepared observers. Cyborg was three times the size of the shape-shifter, and yet he obviously drew comfort from his younger teammate. He closed his eyes and calmed down, still tasting the residue of tequila and salt in his mouth. But Beast Boy had accomplished what the alcohol hadn't. For the first time since Starfire got sick, he felt at home.


	4. Shells

_**Author's Notes: **OK, so it's not four chapters, but there's one more after this-- it's a short one, but effective. You'll see. Chapter Edited_

Chapter Four: Shells

"So that's it?" Cyborg said. "Italy was a bust?"

"Not entirely," Raven said. "We found out where the sarcophagus came from. There were thousands of them."

"Minus one," Beast Boy added, dismally.

"What about that Guardian? He couldn't help?" Cyborg pressed.

"Did everyone know about this guy _but_ me?" Beast Boy whined.

"He couldn't," Raven said, ignoring Beast Boy. "We were too late."

They were quiet.

"So that's it then?" said Cyborg. "It's over. She's gone."

There was more quiet.

"We just have to bring out the big guns," Raven said suddenly to the two of them. They looked at her, confused. Raven strode towards them, looking determined. "It's simple, really. Illyria can rise from the dead, so can Starfire. We just need to get Illyria out. It's the soul that matters. Her body maybe in trouble, but it's the soul that matters."

For the first time, Cyborg had hope in his eyes. "You can do that?" he asked.

But Raven shook her head. "Not me. I don't deal with that sort of magic. But... I know people who do. I can contact them. Where's Robin?"

"He went after Terra," Cyborg said. "But call your sources. Beast Boy and I will hit the books, see if we can figure out what this bitch is gonna do next. We'll regroup when Terra and Robin get back."

"Good plan," Raven said, and was gone.

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"No, I _asked_ for Sydney Morgana, the soul witch, not the fricking psychic! You're a terrible operator!" Raven hung up and dialed her next number. "I need to speak with Laurel. The Himalayas? I thought she was in South America!... OK look, I don't care, just—" Raven sighed and stared at the phone. "What do you mean she's not on this plane? Astral projection? Well is there anyway to get her astral over to Jump City? This is an emergency! No… No, I'm not going to—No, don't put me on hold!"

Raven growled in frustration and hung up the phone.

Raven turned to her list of contacts. "There's got to be _someone_!"

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Robin twirled his bo-staff. "Heard you went for a walk."

Terra looked at the unconscious Jinx and pointed at her, trying to stay calm. "Uh, yeah, my sources–"

"Don't," Robin interrupted, his face inscrutable. Terra sighed and looked at the floor. "What he said... About Starfire. Is it true?" Terra was silent. Robin shook his head, sadly. "Oh Terra... What did you do?"

"It was just a little box..." Terra whispered, looking away from Robin. "I was losing it. Everything they put in my head, everything that made me better. Special. And he could fix it. Make it permanent. So I stole a little box. It was a trinket, an antique. I didn't think anyone would get hurt."

"Nothing from the H.I.V.E is free," Robin said, and Terra winced as if he'd slapped her, her eyes closed to stop the tears. "You know that."

"I couldn't go back… to being just me. I was _better_ with that stuff, don't you get it? Didn't you see it? I was stronger, faster, smarter—"

"Not smart enough," Robin whispered.

Terra began to sob. "I didn't think it would be one of us. I-I didn't think it would be St-Starfire… Understand that!"

Robin was quiet a minute as he began to walk toward her, calmly. "I understand not wanting to go back," he said, looking at his bo-staff and retracting it. "Not wanting to be who we were. I understand it. And I can forgive it." Robin walked past Terra to Jinx's coffee table and picked up a dagger. He examined it, his back to Terra as she watched him, anxiously. "But you knew what was happening to her. You knew who was responsible and you didn't say anything. You let her die."

It happened so fast, Terra barely realized what Robin had done. She felt warm and cold at the same time as something slimy trickled down her numb abdomen. Her breath was caught in her chest, between inhale and exhale as a cold grip of agony seized her stomach and tied it in knots. Robin's breath was warm on her neck as all the feeling drained from the rest of her body and gathered at the focal point of her pain. His voice hissed in her ear. "I'm less forgiving about that."

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"What the _hell_ did you do?" Raven demanded, holding Robin up against the wall with a wave of black energy.

Robin was calm. "What I had to."

"I don't remember seeing 'Stab Terra' on the agenda this morning," Raven snapped.

"I avoided the major organs. She'll probably live."

Raven smashed Robin harder against the wall and he winced a little. "And that's supposed to make it alright?"

"_Nothing_ is alright!" Robin screamed. "Nothing will ever be alright."

Raven slowly let him slide to the floor. They stared at each other from about six feet apart.

"We'll get her back, Robin," she said.

"There is no Starfire anymore," he whispered.

"You don't know that," Raven said, determined.

"I watched it gut her from the inside out. Everything she was is gone. There's nothing left but a shell."

"Than we'll figure out a way to get her back," Raven said. "It's the soul, Robin it's out there somewhere, we'll find it—"

"No we won't!" Robin exclaimed. He shivered a moment, then began to cry. "Starfire's soul… Her soul was consumed in resurrecting Illyria."

Raven was stunned. She stepped back a minute, not knowing what to say. "Are you sure?" Robin nodded. "What about Terra?"

"She stole the sarcophagus for them. What she knew, when she knew it, it doesn't change what happened! She let her die."

Raven turned away from him in shame. "So did I," she whispered. Robin took a step towards her, confused. She continued. "At the well in Italy, there was a way to save Starfire, but only if thousands of others died in her place. As much as I love Starfire, I couldn't let that happen." She turned back to Robin and closed the distance between them. She took him by the shoulders. "Look, I need you to bury it, Robin. Everything you're feeling, everyone you want to hurt. I need you to put it aside and focus on what has to be done. We could use you. We really need a leader right now."

"Illyria," Robin said, his face etched with fury.

"We need to stop her before—"

"She releases hell on earth?" Beast Boy was at the door, holding a book. "Who knew these things could be so helpful."

"What'd you get from it?" asked Robin, walking towards him.

"Pictures. Boringness. Oh, and a name. Vahla ha'nesh."

"What's that mean?" Raven asked.

"It's her temple. Where she's supposed to be resurrected," said Beast Boy.

"When did Illyria go from an 'it' to a 'she'?" Robin asked.

Raven and Beast Boy were silent. "Well… She— It's in Starfire…" Beast Boy tried to reason.

"Beast Boy," Raven said. "Don't try."

"When did we give up ever getting her back?" Robin said. "Before we even knew she didn't have a soul?"

"Check out this picture," Cyborg said, in the doorway, saving Beast Boy and Raven from an awkward conversation. "It's Illyria."

"In its native form," Raven said.

"What are those smaller things surrounding Illyria?" Beast Boy asked.

"Her army of Doom," Cyborg replied, reading it.

"Why am I not surprised?" Beast Boy muttered.

"They were entombed with her, waiting for her return," Robin muttered.

"To Jump City?" Beast Boy said, skeptically.

"This is where her temple was millions of years ago, and it's still here," said Raven.

"Well you think I'd remember seeing something like this parked next to the video store," Cyborg pointed out.

"It's out of phase with our time stream," Raven explained. "Only Illyria can open the gateway."

"Any idea how we stop her?" Robin asked, his voice fierce with determination.

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Across town, Jinx's door was knocked down for the third time that night. She walked around the corner with an ice pack and moaned.

"I have got to get a better security system," she sighed, then gasped at what stood in the doorway. She was on her knees in seconds. "My liege!"

Illyria stared at her. "You are my Qwa'ha Xahn."

"I've followed you for a long time," Jinx said. "For… _months_ know. Ever since I heard the Brotherhood was looking for you. The H.I.V.E, they think I'm doing it for them, so they have a bargaining chip, but really… it's for you, my God King." Jinx pulled down the neck of her cloak to reveal a wound, where her skin had been opened and foreign objects were placed under her skin. "I am your priest. I am your servant. I've taken your sacraments and placed them close to my heart according to the ancient ways. That's why you were called to me. We are bound together."

Illyria looked skeptical. "My last Qwa'ha Xahn was taller," she said, dismissively.

Jinx cocked an eyebrow and looked up at Illyria from her kneeling position. "I'm at your beck and call and all you can say is I'm _shorter_ than you expected?"

But Illyria ignored Jinx and walked past her to Jinx's window. She squinted at the city below. "This world… It is not as I left it."

Jinx got off her knees and stared at Illyria, crossing her arms. "Well there's nothing I can do about that," she said.

"But I can," Illyria said, turning to Jinx. "Bring me the sarcophagus."

Jinx did as she asked and presented Illyria's small coffin to her. Illyria placed her hand over a gem in the center and armor spread from her hand to her shoulder until it covered Starfire's entire body.

"I am ready to begin."

"Or we could just hang out."

Illyria and Jinx spun around and saw four of the Titans in Jinx's living room, led by a wise-cracking Robin. "Aw, man, not again!"

But Illyria smiled. "Warriors. I was beginning to wonder if this world was void of your kind."

"Well there's plenty of us to go around," said Cyborg.

"A half-breed, a changeling, and a band of maggot-aged humans. Is this all that challenges me now?" Illyria said, doubtfully.

"That," said Robin, then cocked a gun. "And a whole lot of bullets." His team followed suit.

"Enough to temporarily incapacitate even you," Raven deadpanned. She stepped forward, toward Illyria and Jinx.

"You guys never used guns before!" said Jinx, aghast. "That's not—"

"We've never faced an immortal demon god before," Cyborg pointed out. "Rules change."

"We know what you are, Illyria," said Raven, approaching the demon, slowly. "We've seen the rest of your kind. All the old ones, sealed away forever, like you were. Where you should have stayed. You've taken something of ours, something very precious. Stand down and I promise we won't destroy you taking it back. Your choice."

Illyria cocked her head. "I decline." Illyria reached out and with Starfire's hand she lifted Raven by her throat and threw her out Jinx's window.

"Raven!" Beast Boy screamed.

"Take her!" Robin cried and began firing at Illyria.

And before Jinx's eyes, the bullets slowed and stopped. "Huh?" she said, looking around. Jinx was holding her wrist hard. She pulled Jinx through the frozen statues of Titans. Jinx walked right by a speeding bullet. They were out of the building, and Jinx saw Raven flailing in mid-air. She was floating in midair. But Illyria kept going and soon they were gone.

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As Raven quickly approached the ground, she hastily crafted a net of black energy to catch her before she hit. It did, but gave her terrible whiplash. She lowered herself to the ground and rubbed her neck.

"Ow."

She started to go back inside but met her friends half way up. The words came fast and all at once.

"She's gone!" said Cyborg, sounding frustrated.

"But how?" Beast Boy asked, baffled.

"I can't _believe_ we let her get away!" said Robin.

"She totally kicked our butts," said Cyborg.

Raven was still rubbing her neck. "Did she toss you out a window?"

"Well—"

"Then you're one up on me," she said.

"What do you think happened, Raven?" Robin said.

"Smoke and mirrors?" Cyborg asked.

"No trace of either of them," Beast Boy pointed out.

"He's right," Raven agreed. Normally, agreeing with Beast Boy would earn her curious looks from her teammates. But now, the anomaly slipped right past them. "Illyria is a prestigious demon. She wouldn't waste her time on tricks."

"We should watch the house," said Cyborg. "If Illyria shows up again—"

"She won't," said Robin. "She got what she came for."

"Jinx?" said Cyborg.

"And some spiffy new threads," Beast Boy chimed.

"And we have no idea how she got past us," said Robin.

"Is she a teleporter?" Cyborg asked. "I mean, we've seen those before, haven't we?"

"I don't think so," Raven muttered. "Was there any characteristic displacement of atmosphere around her?"

"What?" Beast Boy said, confused.

"Smoke. Mirrors," Raven clarified.

"Oh. Yeah. No," Beast Boy muttered.

"I think I saw a blur just before she went Houdini," said Cyborg. "Like she was pulling a Wally West."

"There was definitely a Kid Flash resemblance," Beast Boy agreed.

"She was moving really fast?" Raven guessed.

"Or we were moving really slow," Robin mused.

"Great. She's super strong and she can alter time," Cyborg sighed.

"Well that's not fair!" Beast Boy whined. "This is making my head hurt. Anyone up for tofu burgers?"

"Stay on task!" Robin ordered. "It makes it complicated, but it doesn't change what we need to do."

"I still have some contacts left," said Raven. "To try and resurrect Starfire's soul."

"Great," Robin said. "Use them."

"I'll also research a way to beat Illyria's speed," Raven said.

"OK," Robin agreed. "You do that. We'll call you when we need you. Cyborg, Beast Boy, we're gonna track her down, see where this temple is."

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Outside, Beast Boy voiced his concern to Robin. "Any thoughts on how we can track Starfire or Illyria or whatever the hell that thing was?"

"We'll just do it, that's all," said Robin, walking to his T-Cycle.

Cyborg was reeling. "Back in the apartment…" he began, talking mostly to himself. "She was standing right there in front of me, but there was no sign of her… There was nothing in her eyes. Nothing. It's like she wasn't even there."

Robin stopped, inches from his R-Cycle. He hung his head low. "I know."

"Look…" Cyborg said, noticing he upset Robin. "I want Starfire back as much as any of us… but seeing her there like that… maybe she really is—"

"Cyborg… Something violated her. It crawled up inside and used her up."

Cyborg and Beast Boy were quiet. Robin turned to face them, thanking God that his mask hid his tears. "Starfire's soul was destroyed resurrecting Illyria."

Beast Boy wouldn't believe it. "But Raven—"

"Is as much in denial as I was. Before I heard Terra…" Robin looked away.

"No, that's not true!" Beast Boy exclaimed, angrily. "You stabbed Terra because she said Starfire—"

"No!" Robin's voice was harsh and cold as he grabbed Beast Boy by the collar. "I stabbed her because she betrayed us. She stole that box for the H.I.V.E, gave it to our enemies, let them infect Starfire…"

He couldn't continue. He let Beast Boy go, and turned back to his R-Cycle. "Let's go to the Tower," he said. "I need some supplies."

Cyborg and Beast Boy mutely obeyed and climbed into the T-Car.

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While Robin gathered his things, Beast Boy slipped away, to the medical wing. He slowly opened the door to Terra's room and entered quietly. She turned over in the bed and gave him a wan smile.

"Hey, you," she whispered.

"Uh… hey," Beast Boy said, walking over to Terra. He scrambled for an excuse. "Uh… Robin wants to know when you'll be OK to fight with us again… You know… because of Illyria and all."

"I don't think Robin wants me fighting with you guys anymore," she said, her eyes cast downward.

"Um… Yeah," said Beast Boy. "That was a lie."

Terra strained to sit up and winced. "Nobody else could stomach coming down to see me?"

Beast Boy looked at her with intensity, something that rarely crossed his face unless he was playing video games. "Is it true? What Robin said about you?"

"I guess it is," Terra said.

"How could you do that? To your friends? To Starfire?"

"Because I'm weak…" Terra sniffed and scoffed, disgusted with herself. "Because I wanted to be somebody that I'm not. Because I don't know where I fit. Because I never did. Because a thousand other reasons that don't mean a damn 'cause she's gone." The tears began to leak from her tired, blood-shot eyes. Her voice shook. "She's gone and she's not coming back because of me. I did this, and I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry."

Beast Boy put his arm around Terra and she doubled over, the pain in her gut intensifying as she sobbed, but she didn't care. She deserved it and she knew it. She cried harder, as much to intensify her physical pain as to alleviate her emotional pain.

Beast Boy's embrace tightened around her and as much as she craved his forgiveness, she hoped that he wouldn't forgive her for a long time. It was her cycle of masochism that she often fell into when she was so disgusted with herself. It had happened before. She made the worst choices when she was in this masochistic cycle.

_Not the worst choices,_ Terra reminded herself. Her _worst_ choice was made when she was feeling selfish. When she was _not_ punishing herself, but trying to feel _better_ about herself. Her worst choice was trusting that man, was stealing that box, was hurting Starfire.

"Don't… forgive me…" Terra heaved between sobs. "I don't deserve…" but she broke down in a fit of tears. Beast Boy let her cry. There was only one thing to say.

"I don't know…" he whispered into her tear-stained hair. "But I love you."

Terra sobbed even harder. She had a feeling that this was one punishing cycle she would be in for a very long time.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jinx had followed Illyria into a bank, next to the video shop. "How cliché," she said.

"Your breed is fragile," said Illyria, stepping over the body of a dead security guard. "How is it they came to control this world?"

"Opposable thumbs," Jinx offered, looking in disgust at the bloody guards. "Um… Fire. Television. What they lack in strength they make up for in extraordinary sneakiness."

"You are deceivers," Illyria said, looking around at the bank foyer.

"The worst," said Jinx. "They deserve to be punished."

"They?" said Illyria. "You don't consider yourself part of your race?"

"Not anymore," Jinx. "If they're going to be destroyed. Besides, I'm a—"

"Half-breed," Illyria interrupted. "Like the dark one."

"Please," Jinx scoffed. "I am _so_ better than that bitch. Now, come on. Open the gateway. Raise your army. Wash humanity from the face of the Earth and reclaim what was lost to you so many millennia ago, when the world was ruled by—"

"Be silent."

"Right-o," Jinx nodded.

They had come to the center of the foyer, in the middle of a grand circle. Illyria held up her hands and a wind rushed by. But other than that, nothing happened.

"The gateway is blocked," she said.

"I was afraid of that," said Jinx. "The Brotherhood of Evil probably threw a lock on it. They're big on things happening on their timetable."

"The Brotherhood?" said Illyria, the name seeming to ring a bell. "Ah, yes. In my time, they were weak, the dirt at our feet."

"Didn't know they were that old," said Jinx. "Huh. Must have beefed up since then. But no worry," Jinx pulled out a satchel and grinned. "I brought my skeleton key. Just in case." She laid out a display of small bones and performed a spell. They watched as the bones disappeared.

"Showtime," said Jinx.

"Any seats left?" intoned Robin.

"If not, we could just stand in the back," said Cyborg.

"Argh!" Jinx cried, rolling her eyes. "Don't you guys _ever_ give up?"

"Not where our friend is involved," said Raven.

"You need to scan the headlines here." Jinx said laughing. "You can't win this. It's a lost cause."

"Then we all die trying," said Robin.

Illyria seemed interested. "Why?"

Robin looked at her. "You want the short version? Let's start with you walking around looking like the woman you murdered."

"You think your actions will restore her?" Illyria sounded like she was mocking them.

Robin didn't hesitate. "No."

"Yet you seek a confrontation you cannot win," Illyria reasoned.

Robin approached her. "What you're trying to do, raise your army, reclaim your world, innocent people would die. Like Starfire. We can't let that happen."

Illyria again looked doubtful. "_You_ are the protector of these creatures?"

"Yes," said Raven, stepping forward to Robin's side. "We are."

Illyria looked at Jinx. "Even this one?"

"Is that an issue?" Jinx said, eyes wide. "Is my life in peril, boss? King?"

"You're about as low as it gets, Jinx," Raven said, "but whether you want to admit it or not, you're part of humanity. That isn't always pretty, but it's a hell of a lot better than what came before. And if it comes down to a choice between you and her, then yes, we would fight for her life, just like any other human's. Because that's what people do. That's what makes us—"

All of a sudden, a gun shot echoed loudly in the foyer, cutting Raven off. Raven looked to her side and saw Robin was holding a smoking gun. Jinx looked down at her chest to see she was bleeding.

"Aw, maaaaaan!" she whined, before falling to the ground.

Raven looked at Robin and shook her head. "Where you even listening?"

"No," Robin said, to Illyria. "Not that one."

"You destroyed my Qwa'ha Xahn!" Illyria was angry.

"Yeah," said Cyborg. "But you got to admit, she had it coming."

"It offends me," Illyria said, eyes narrowed, "that you think she matters."

"You're right," said Robin. "She's not the problem. You are."

And then the fight began in earnest. Robin swung his bo-staff at Illyria, but she ducked quickly and grabbed the staff, throwing it—along with Robin—across the room. Beast Boy charged as a rhinoceros but Illyria grabbed his horn and drove it into the ground, where, stuck, Beast Boy turned into a mouse to escape. Cyborg shot at her with his sonic cannon but Illyria kicked Beast Boy at him, knocking him down.

Robin was on his feet and threw a disk at her, which she outmaneuvered easily and kicked him across the floor again. Beast Boy screeched as a pterodactyl as he tried to grab Illyria by the shoulders but she pulled him down. Robin and Cyborg attacked at once and Illyria fought them off easily, pushing them off in opposite directions.

"Unimpressive."

Furious, Beast Boy got to his feet and Illyria waved her hand, and Beast Boy's morph was caught midway as time slowed. Illyria turned to continue with the portal opening, but stoped when she saw Robin standing in front of her.

"Really, what's the rush?" he said, before punching Illyria hard in the face, sending her across the room.

"How?" Illyria cried, aghast.

Robin pointed at Raven, who was concentrating hard above the fight. She had contained Illyria and Robin in a black energy forcefield. She grinned.

"Time displacement immunity," Robin said. "Simple spell, according to Raven, once you get the hang of it. The gem in your sarcophagus helped too."

Illyria smirked. "Sneaky." She swung her leg at Robin's ankles, knocking him to the ground. Time started again and Beast Boy landed on her, knocking her down, but she kicked him off with ease. Cyborg launched himself at her, but she punched him hard in the gut, bending his metal.

"Robin!" Raven cried, as she saw Illyria opening the portal. They seemed to both be straining. "I… can't keep it… closed!"

"Let it go, witch!" Illyria ordered, though her teeth was bared. Raven screamed in surprise as she was knocked out of the air and a portal was ripped into reality.

Robin, realizing she was going to jump out of this dimension, readied himself. As Illyria made a dash for the portal, Robin dove into it after her, managing to get through right as it closed. Beast Boy and Robin got to their feet, but it was too late. They were gone.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Robin found himself in an immense stone temple, sprawled on his stomach. Something seemed very wrong.

Illyria was striding quickly ahead of him. "You're too late. My army will rise. This world will be mine once again."

All of a sudden, Illyria stopped walking. Robin looked past her and couldn't help but gasp. He expected to see soldiers—thousands of them—frozen in time, waiting for Illyria to awaken them. He had expected something of devastating magnitude. He had expected to be willing to die to stop Illyria from bringing her army to life. He had expected some great battle.

But he hadn't expected this.

Before Illyria lay her grand temple, her intimidating statue, and stone soldiers.

In ruin.

The columns were broken and the walls echoed with nothing. Her statue lay toppled and decapitated. The head, along with other parts, were missing. Her soldiers, her hundreds of thousands of stone, loyal soldiers, were completely shattered. All that was left of them were jagged pedestals and crumbled rocks. Everything was completely destroyed.

"It can't be," Illyria panted, visibly crushed. "It's gone." She fell to her knees and ran her hands through the sand and pebbles. "My world is gone."

Robin stood behind her and cocked his gun. "Now you know how I feel."

Illyria stopped a moment, then looked up at Robin with wide eyes.

Robin heard a noise behind him, like a strong gale rushing by his ear. He turned to see that a portal was open, and that Illyria was gone.


	5. Homecoming

**_Author's Note:_** OK... Some things to mention. First of all YES I know this is a miserably tragic way to end the story. That's why (since I know how much people love happy endings) I left you with a bit of hope at the end... "for something worthy," as Robin says. As much as I wanted to attatch a big ol' fat "END" at the bottom of this page, I didn't. Why? So y'all can hope for that something better. Also, Green Gallant, yeah, I realize Robin was out of character... but that's part of the greif I guess. I dunno. Maybe I'm just BS-ing. Gyah. I think I will change this rating (It's fluxuated ALOT between T and M for various reasons... mostly, since a story near identical to this was broacast on televsion, it's been T. But I think you're right, I will raise the rating. Argh, whatever.

Chapter Five: Homecoming

Back at the tower, the Titans began to gather the pieces. Cyborg was repairing the window in the medical unit. The room that used to belong to Starfire; that Terra now occupied.

"So, no army of doom, then," said Terra, sitting up in her bed and smiling wanly. "Huzzah for our side."

"Yeah," said Cyborg, putting in the new window pane. "I guess."

He didn't really want to be there, Terra could tell. He, like Robin, like all of them, blamed her for what happened to Starfire. Maybe not directly. But she was a part of it.

"I-I'm sorry, Cyborg," Terra said.

Cyborg looked down after sealing the pane in place. "I know you are."

"I can't change—"

"But I really wish you could."

oooooooooooooooo

Raven and Beast Boy were in the living room. Beast Boy was looking over Raven's shoulder as she breezed through page after page of her book.

"What are you doing? We won, didn't we?" he said.

"Yeah," said Raven. "But we still need to close the gateway to Illyria's temple. Permanently. I don't want any more surprises."

"Yeah, me neither," said Beast Boy, shivering. "What about the leather queen?"

"Illyria still has enough energy to be a threat. We regroup and we take care of it. Robin?"

Raven looked up to see their leader watching them, intently.

"It's all we can do," he said. "I'll be in Starfire's room."

He turned to leave then stopped at the stairs, his head low. "You guys are… great friends, you know," he said. "I care about you… a lot."

There was a pregnant pause. "We know," Raven said.

"We love you too," Beast Boy added.

Robin left and Beast Boy sighed. "Long day."

oooooooooooooooo

Robin began to clean out Starfire's room. He was packing her things away in boxes. He paused as he took down a large framed picture of all of them on Starfire's dresser. He tossed it into a nearby box.

"You grieve still… for a single life."

Robin stiffened, but he felt Illyria's presence in the room. Robin shut his eyes tight and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Why are you here?"

"I… I'm uncertain." Illyria looked around the room. "This place… it was part of the shell."

Robin snapped and spun around, teeth still gritted. "Don't call her—" He took in a deep, shuttering breath and looked down. "The girl you killed had a name."

"This is important to you," Illyria observed. "Things have names. The shell. Koriand'r Star. Starfire… She cannot return to you."

Robin turned away from Illyria again. It was painful to look at her. She looked like Starfire. But Starfire wasn't there anymore. The tears leaked through his mask this time. It was too hard.

"Yet…" Illyria intoned. Robin didn't react. He wouldn't let himself. But he did turn around to look at her again. "Yet there are fragments. When her brain collapsed, electrical spasms channeled into my function system… memories."

Illyria held up her hand with a gap between her thumb and forefinger. An electrical spark formed and she began to speak, in Starfire's voice. "Please… Robin… Why can't I stay?"

Robin turned away and felt like he was going to throw up. "No," he gagged. "Leave."

"I've nowhere to go," Illyria said. "My kingdom is long dead. Lond dead. There's so much I don't understand. I've become overwhelmed. I am unsure of my place."

Robin turned to her angrily. "Your place is with the rest of your people: Dead and turned to ash!"

"Perhaps…" Illyria nodded. "But I exist here. I must learn to walk in this world." She slowly approached Robin. "I'll need your help… Robin."

Robin held back his pain and shook his head. "If I were to help you find your way… you have to learn to change. You must not kill."

"You killed the Qwa'ha Xahn in defiance of the half-breed," Illyria pointed out.

Robin shook his head. "She murdered the girl I love."

"And that made it just," said Illyria.

"No," said Robin with a sigh. "It wasn't just. I'm probably the last man in the world to teach you what's right. I might have, before. But now that she's gone, I don't even know myself anymore what's right and what's wrong. I don't know if I should teach you."

"But you will. If I abide, you will help me."

Robin spoke softly. "Yes."

Illyria knew his real reasons. "Because I look like her?"

The tears could not be held back any longer. "Yes."

"We cling to what is gone. Is there anything in this life but grief?"

"There's love," said Robin, looking at the thrown away picture. "There's hope… for some. There's hope that you'll find something worthy… that your life will lead you to some joy… that after everything… you can still be surprised."

"Perhaps one day," Illyria said, slowly. "Perhaps one day, your half-breed will find a way to resurrect what is gone. The impossible has been disproved in the past."

"Perhaps," Robin agreed, his gaze far away.

"And then, perhaps…" Illyria continued. "Perhaps I will be where I am supposed to be."

Robin nodded. "Perhaps we all will. We can always hope."

"Is that enough?" Illyria asked him. "Is that enough… to live on?"

Robin didn't answer.


End file.
